Performing medical diagnostic measurements if the field commonly requires the transfer and/or storage of the acquired measurement data to a centralized site. For example, after performing an electrocardiogram (ECG) in the field, the ECG data is generally transferred to the central computer of a hospital for further analysis. It is known to transfer acquired measurement data using telephone modems or an Internet connection. One problem is that there are situations in which telephone or Internet connections are not available or are not economically feasible.
It is also known to transfer measurement data acquired in the field using portable media interfaces such as USB drives or flash memory cards. One problem with portable media interfaces is that they require the implementation of an electrical connector to physically couple the portable media interface with the data acquisition device. This electrical connector is often expensive. The electrical connector is also difficult to clean as it generally includes recessed portions that are hard to access with cleaning instruments. The inherent difficulty with cleaning conventional electrical connectors adds to the expense of performing a given medical procedure and also increases the risks associated with bacterial and viral contamination. Another problem with portable media interfaces is that they are difficult to externally label thereby increasing the likelihood that the data will be inaccurately processed and/or that the data will be correlated with the wrong patient.